Ekiti guber: More troubles for Fayemi as APC group threaten court action over primary

A group within the Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Concerned APC Patriots, (CAP), has threatened to challenge the eligibility of former Governor Kayode Fayemi in court if he is cleared to contest the party’s governorship primary despite the state government’s white paper indicting him.

The group warned that it would not mind if the APC is disqualified from participating in the July 14 election, saying it would be the consequence for the party’s shunning of advice given to it not to field a candidate with alleged tainted integrity.

CAP further warned the John Oyegun-led National Working Committee against showing preference for any aspirant in the primary.

Governor Ayodele Fayose had last year set up a judicial panel of inquiry to probe Fayemi’s administration where he was indicted for alleged financial impropriety and was barred from holding public office for ten years in a white paper.

The group, which spoke through its coordinator, Ife Olu-Olubusuyi said, “Fayemi and his handlers have been bragging that he would be given a clean bill of health to contest. We are concerned and advise that the APC headquarters must adhere strictly to its own rules and

disqualify whoever has not met the conditions for governorship as indicated by the constitution and guidelines”.

The coordinator urged the Timipre Sylva-led executive to study the constitution of the party and confirm the requirements for the eligibility of contestants in APC, insisting that certain sections of the party’s constitution abhors indictment of aspirants, particularly any that borders on financial profligacy.

“The former governor is not the only alternative to APC at this time when it is grappling to reclaim Ekiti from the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP). There are other popular and more credible aspirants with better acceptability in the party.

We are patriotic members who believe in constitutionality. We won’t tolerate subversion of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under any guise. So, our party must comply with the provisions of the law which must not be applied based on convenience.

“If you check the nomination form of our party, there is a column where the aspirant is asked whether he has been indicted before or not.

This is not an issue that can be suppressed; else our party will have no candidate in this election.

If our party decide to gloss over this and go ahead to screen former Fayemi, we’ll have no choice than to challenge his eligibility in court, because our party is very dear to our heart and we don’t want to miss the opportunity to reclaim Ekiti in this election .

“We have consulted our legal team and they are fine-tuning arrangements on all necessary steps to take as regards this.

There’s no point for our party to impose anyone or have this erroneous impression that some people are indispensable in this election. We know those who have acceptability here in Ekiti and our party need not fear if Fayemi fails to be cleared,” Olu-Olubusuyi said.

Reacting to the group’s threat, Fayemi’s spokesman, Yinka Oyebode dismissed it as a faceless group not known to the APC in Ekiti. He said, “We are not a lawless society and APC is not a lawless party. Everything is being done according to the dictates of a laid down procedure.

They are a faceless group not known to the party, having collected money from their paymaster; they want to disrupt what the party is doing. Let them go ahead because we are not bothered. It all amounts to ranting of an ant.”